Falling sparrow numbers cause concern

PUNE: Remember the sparrow, or Passer domesticus for the initiated? That small chirpy bird, which perched on your window frame and woke you up from a peaceful siesta with its constant chattering.
The sparrow was a confirmed pest. Everything said and done, life without the sparrow is unthinkable or rather was unthinkable (note the first few sentences are in the past tense) given the fact that sparrows are fast disappearing from the city’s air, or we might say, window space.
Concerned environmentalists say unplanned urbanisation, along with its degrading effect on the environment, is taking a toll on their numbers.
President of nature group Ela Foundation, Satish Pande says the sparrow plays an important role in maintaining ecological balance. He says the bird is losing its natural habitat because of a dwindling forest cover coupled with increasing air and noise pollution.
However, Prof. Sanjeev Nalavde, principal investigator with Ranwa, an environment group, says there is more to the dwindling numbers than just pollution and less trees.
“A cyclical change in environment is an angle which could be probed,� he says. Ranwa has undertaken a survey of the various bird species in and around Pune.
According to him, the sparrow is known to sustain on grass-seeds, insects and grains. However, just when the grass cover is receding, with better storage facilities, less grains are now stored in the open, which again is taking a toll on the sparrow.
Also, traditionally the sparrow preferred to stay near human settlements and built its nest in some high corner of a building.
The new flat system and buildings have lesser number of isolated and safe high corners for the sparrow to build its nest.
Also, urbanisation generates more garbage. So we have more crows now, which only threaten the small sparrow.
Vivek Velankar of environment group Nisargseva echoes Nalavde’s views. According to him, we have virtually banished the sparrow from our midst by our changing lifestyle.
Salil Tambe of the group says in the olden days women folk used to clean grains in the open. Sparrows used to sustain on these titbits. But this age of readymade foods has robbed the sparrow of those titbits too, he says.
However, Tambe is quick to add that there is no threat of their immediate extinction. “They are only trying to adjust to the changing urban environment,� he says.
A similar pattern was seen in the case of vultures when the city was first expanding in to areas like Hadapsar and Pashan.
Also, the sparrow prefers to build its nests on medium-sized trees. Presently, such trees are found only on the outskirts of the city where they are in sufficient numbers.
Dr Bharat Bhushan, state co-ordinator for the national bio-diversity plan, says an arterial survey is required to assess the exact reasons behind the falling numbers.
He said, “There has to be some ‘pattern’ behind this phenomenon.� He says even the pigeon population in the city has been reduced. A recording confirmed by many others.
Thankfully, Erach Bharucha, director, Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research, depicts an optimistic picture for sparrows in Pune.
He said the decline has been registered only in the last eight to 10 years. He, in fact, goes to the extent of saying that there has actually been an “increase in their numbers�.